


begin again

by ultravires



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Aquariums, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, I try to be funny, Jeon Wonwoo-centric, M/M, Mentioned Lee Seokmin | DK, Pre-Relationship, it's a date but they don't know it, mentioned Lee Jinhyuk, why is that not a tag?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:20:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27974312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultravires/pseuds/ultravires
Summary: On a Wednesday, in an aquarium, Wonwoo watched it begin again.(Wonwoo re-learns about love and Mingyu can't seem to let go of non-flying bird species. It's penguins this time.)
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu
Comments: 12
Kudos: 75





	begin again

**Author's Note:**

> the english version of [this oneshot](https://write.as/ultravires/begin-again). title from [Begin Again - Taylor Swift](https://open.spotify.com/track/4uoyvFGK43Of4v9tj0moxC).

Crying in front of someone for hours and spilling a past trauma to them does something to you, Wonwoo thinks, as he walks up to a display of an African big cat with Mingyu in tow. He already did that to his friends, way back when he was first diagnosed, but they were his best friends. Wonwoo, Jun, Soonyoung, and Jihoon have always been close since their staffing days, so he was bound to do that.

But Mingyu is another story entirely.

Ever since that day at the park, something shifted in the dynamics between him and Mingyu. Sure, they have come to a somewhat truce during the days Mingyu would join him to write scripts, but not to this extent: Mingyu now knows just how fragile he is. He shared a piece of his life to him, something he can't take back, and he will have to trust him with it.

"I didn't know you're so interested in, like, fauna and stuff," Mingyu commented. Wonwoo is still staring in wonder at a meerkat, occasionally holding up his phone to take pictures.

"Living creatures are beautiful to observe," he answered. "Especially when you're observing on an 80% discount, then they get even more beautiful."

Mingyu laughs loudly, the sound reverberating in the space. Wonwoo is ready to chide him for disruption of peace until he realizes that they are practically alone in this exhibition. There's only a family of four who they passed at the entrance and two other couples at the earlier display, so he lets himself loose and joins in Mingyu's laughter.

Before he backtracks and thinks— _other couples?_ Do Mingyu and him qualify as a couple? Two people is a couple. Is there anything else to it? There should be something else to it, right? Mingyu and him are just _a couple of people_ , enjoying the exhibition. Together.

Does he want to be _together_ with Mingyu?

Probably a bad thing to think about when the object of his current overthinking is only at arm's length.

"Anyway," Wonwoo clears his throat, moving on to the next display, "it's not only fishes here. See? There are non-aquatic animals too. It's fascinating."

"You're fascinating," Mingyu absentmindedly commented. He doesn't seem to realize what he said, even though Wonwoo obviously did.

The upperclassman froze in place, stunned by Mingyu's offhanded comment. "What?" Wonwoo asks, surprised.

"What?" Confused, Mingyu turns to look at Wonwoo, who is already looking at him weirdly. "What? Is there something on my face? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You just said— no, nevermind." Wonwoo shakes his head, brushing off their previous conversation. Instead, he directs his attention to the otter tunnel. "Hey, let's go there. It looks cool."

"Everything here looks cool," Mingyu said, "let's go. I'll take a picture of you and the otters!"

Mingyu doesn't end up taking a picture of him and the otters, it turns out, because they have to duck and kneel to fit through the tunnel. He does, however, take a picture of the otters, one of them looking particularly similar to Chan.

Getting tired of ducking, they exit and move on to the shallow pool where the smaller aquatic animals are kept. 

"Oh, look, a lobster! Lobsters are delicious. Do you know that when a lobster mate, they mate for life?"

Wonwoo raises his brow at Mingyu's sudden burst of fact. "Really?"

"Yeah! They, like, go claw-in-claw with each other after they mate. Like, holding hands, but claws, you get me?"

"That is ridiculous as hell," Wonwoo tells him with a chuckle as he watches a species of shellfish walk by in the water.

"Here, I'll look it up and you'll see that I'm right!"

"Okay, sure." 

Despite its ridiculousness, Wonwoo can't help but think of the plausibility. If lobsters mate for life and their mate dies first, it means they can't mate with another lobster again. For the rest of their life. Wonwoo decides to entertain the thought for a moment.

If that's the case, then hasn't Wonwoo found his lobster? Jinhyuk was his lobster. Wonwoo was young, he still is, but even then he had known that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Jinhyuk. He can't now, though. He has to learn to live with the fact that he survived while Jinhyuk didn't, and unlike lobsters, he will have to learn how to love again.

Wonwoo has been having a tough time re-learning how to accept someone else into his heart. Seokmin was the first one he tried a romantic relationship with after Jinhyuk's passing, but that didn't work out. It had a lot to do with the fact that Wonwoo was forcing himself to try and accept Seokmin, but he has since learned that he wasn't ready. It wasn't fair to Seokmin, and while he regrets that hurting someone else was what it took to make him find himself again, it was the necessary wake up slap to him.

Wonwoo tears his gaze from the water to Mingyu, who is fumbling with his phone, presumably still trying to find the scientific backup to his lobster fact.

Mingyu has certainly wormed his way into Wonwoo's life, that's for sure. He is what writers call a plot twist— an unexpected development in a story. Wonwoo is a writer through and through, and he's had enough plot twists to last three lifetimes. He was ready to live a mundane life; he doesn't need another plot twist.

But Mingyu is different. Being with him is surprisingly easy. He is loud and bright and sometimes irritating, but in a good way. Wonwoo never knew he would enjoy being around irritating, since he spent the better part of the year being at odds wih the taller underclassman exactly because of his habit of being irritating and invasive. Now that he's closer with Mingyu, Wonwoo would say the best word to describe Mingyu is lively.

For the first time in years, Wonwoo understands what the phrase "what's past is past" means.

"I can't find it," Mingyu finally puts his phone away, pouting, "turns out that was just something I heard in Friends."

"The series?"

"Yeah."

It's his turn to laugh out loud. It's such an on brand thing for Mingyu to cite something from a sitcom and treating it as a fact. He is still pouting, and Wonwoo feels his heart speed up from their proximity.

He suddenly feels terribly grateful that he's not a lobster, because he thinks he might be falling for Mingyu.

Wow, what a plot twist, indeed.

* * *

They exit the aquarium a good two hours later, milking the experience as best as they can. Wonwoo borrowed Mingyu's camera to take a picture of the amazing aquatic displays downstairs, sent a picture of a stingray's face to Jihoon as a joke (Jun once said that Jihoon looks like a stingray), and argued with Mingyu about the ability of penguins to fly on their way out.

"What is it with you and bird species that can't fly?!"

"I mean, I know grown up penguins can't fly, but they have wings since birth!"

The last time he did this with Mingyu, it was ducks, and he nearly clocked Mingyu's head with his phone had Jeonghan not held him back.

"Yes, Mingyu, penguins don't sprout wings mid-puberty."

"Then what if they learned to fly during baby or childhood but as they grow, their bodies become too heavy to fly?"

Not saying another word, Wonwoo grabs a penguin plushie from one of the racks in the gift shop they're currently in and marches up to the cashier.

"Hi, I'm sorry. My friend would like to know, whether penguins can fly or not."

He feels just a tiny bit sorry for the poor cashier whose eyes widened in surprised before answering, "Uh, no, I don't think they can. Just this one plushie?"

Wonwoo smiles. "Yes, thank you. No plastic bag too, please."

Needless to say, Mingyu was speechless when Wonwoo handed him the plushie with a sweet smile.

"Just a memento from our outing today," Wonwoo said, "also to remind you forever that penguins do not fly."

Now they're seated comfortably in one of the cafes at the mall, having a very late lunch.

They talk about the food, about classes, about newest movies playing at the cinema. The food is great, they had a good time. All in all, everything is amazing.

This feels a lot like a date. An actual date, the one where people go to when they're wooing someone.

And honestly? Wonwoo does feel wooed. Mingyu was a perfect gentleman today, just slightly different from the one Wonwoo knows at campus. He is the perfect balance between lively and caring. His gentleness makes up for the irritatingness, one that Wonwoo doesn't mind.

It's already dark when they leave the mall, right during the evening rush when people get off work, so obviously they're stuck in traffic. But Wonwoo finds himself not minding, not when he enjoys being with Mingyu so much.

When Mingyu pulls up in front of his house, Wonwoo doesn't immediately step out.

"Thank you for spending time with me today," he says. Mingyu blinks in surprise, like he doesn't expect Wonwoo to say that.

"Of course. It was really fun! We should do this again sometimes."

That could be an invitation to a second date. "As long as you don't find another bird species that don't fly to argue about with me."

Mingyu grins, grabbing the penguin plushie perched on the back seat. "I totally will find one! Thanks for this plushie too."

"You're welcome. Drive home safe, okay?"

"Of course!"

Wonwoo has one feet out of the car already when he pauses. "Hey Mingyu," he says, "I'm really glad we're not lobsters."

He doesn't give another explanation, walking to his house, ignoring Mingyu's exclamations of confusion. He merely smiles while waving to the guy, who gave up and waves back before driving away.

Warmth spreads in Wonwoo's chest.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos comments bookmarks all appreciated <3


End file.
